The Associated Press - Friday, 11 October 1996.
Harry Dunphy, Associated Press Writer

With eight more years of deaths from the epidemic, the colorful patchwork remembering the victims now stretches nearly a mile from the Washington Monument to the foot of the Capitol.

Even so, the full quilt -- on display this weekend for the first time in four years -- commemorates only about 11 percent of Americans who have died from AIDS.

"I have several friends who will be laid out in the panels," said Joe Wassam, a Takoma Park, Md., volunteer helping put the quilt down on the grassy Mall. "This is a way of being back with them."

The quilt, bearing the names of more than 70,000 people on 38,000 panels, is the centerpiece of dozens of weekend events sponsored by several groups, designed to again focus attention on the epidemic.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to see the quilt over the long Columbus Day weekend.

Friendly crowds greeted President Clinton and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton when they strolled, sometimes hand in hand, through sections of the sun-dappled quilt in late afternoon.

"This means a lot to us," someone shouted. "We love you," cried another.

Another volunteer thanked Clinton for being the first president to visit the quilt. When it was here in 1988, President Reagan was in office; in 1992, it was President Bush.

The Clintons, both with somber expressions, stopped for a minute or more to inspect several individual quilt panels. Returning briefly to campaign mode, Clinton waved to the crowd as he walked back to his car.

Earlier Friday, with throngs already crowding the black fabric walks between quilt panels, Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, joined poet Maya Angelou and others to read aloud some of the names displayed on the quilts.

"I just hope I was pronouncing them right," said Betsy Schissel, 16, of Ithaca N.Y., a volunteer reader.

As with the nearby Vietnam War memorial, family and friends of the victims touched panels, wrote messages, prayed, cried or remembered them in their own way. Bouquets of flowers lay beside some panels, one with a card signed "Love Always. Mom."

AIDS activists protested Friday that the combinations of AIDS drugs they must take cost tens of thousands of dollars. On Saturday, actress Elizabeth Taylor is expected to lead a candlelight march from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

Singer-actress Cher highlighted a rally Friday evening for "National Coming Out Day," encouraging gay men and lesbians to be honest about their identities -- and participate in the coming election.

Cher told more than 1,000 people how she struggled when her daughter, Chastity Bono, said she was a lesbian.

"It's the most difficult thing to achieve -- to love people who are different than you, who believe differently, who look differently," she said.

In opposition to "National Coming Out Day," a group called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays held a news conference to announce its message that homosexuals could become heterosexual.

Quilt organizers said they brought the full quilt here to remind Congress that the disease still has no cure, although new drugs for the first time give hope of better controlling it.

Cleve Jones, who came up with the idea for the quilt in 1985, said the United States "possessed the knowledge, the resources, the institutions and the people to find a cure for AIDS and there can be a cure if the president and Congress lead the way. They should get with the program."

Also on many people's minds was Congress' recent bill, signed into law by Clinton, that denies federal recognition to homosexual marriages.

The AIDS quilt panels, made by family and friends and given to the NAMES Project, are decorated with car keys, condoms, flags, merit badges, motorcycle jackets and photographs.

There are panels made for people known only to a few others and panels remembering such famous people as tennis star Arthur Ashe, actor Rock Hudson and MTV star Pedro Zamora.

Usually, the quilt is divided and travels the country, where organizers say it is seen by 1 million people each year. Organizers said this may be the last time it is displayed in its entirety. Some 4,000 new panels were presented to the project in the last few days.

For the Washington display, more than 12,000 volunteers helped assemble the 3-by-6 foot quilt panels and black landscape fabric walkways. Altogether, it weighs 42 tons.

According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AIDS is the leading cause of death among American men aged 25 to 44 and the third-leading killer among women the same age.

Between 40,000 and 80,000 Americans become infected with the AIDS virus each year.

As of June, 343,000 Americans have died of AIDS.

961011
AP961013

Copyright © 1996 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation, and donations from users like you.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1996. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1996. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .